Redefining Of Disasters Preparedness For The Philanthropic Sector

By Tammie Caldwell


One billion dollars is relatively large sum of money. This represent sum of money in damages that the United States Government uses as a benchmark to measure the relative impact of a natural disaster. Such billion dollar disaster occurrences continue to increase with newer threats arising faster than the facilities of disasters preparedness available. These range from western states wildfires to raging Texas tornadoes.

Knowledge exists that those most adversely afflicted by disasters are people already vulnerable and at risk even before the disaster strikes. This knowledge further reveals that risk sees distribution in accordance to larger social forces. This particularly affects allocation of resources such as power to determine the location of a levee or money that affords a safe home. Bottom line is that disasters strikes sharply where philanthropy resides.

Philanthropic advanced activities like leverage, collective capacity and coalition building must kick in immediately disaster strikes. Experience and research has shown, however, that donations from the private sector including from foundations declines dramatically in six months. Donations are also quite poorly coordinated.

The 2011 framework on disaster recovery from FE MA provides a dramatic insight upon the social sector as a comprehensive system and its level of resilience. The framework pinpoints preparedness as key to continued survival and resilience from a calamity while stronger and intact.

The philanthropy sector needs to better prepare itself for a swiftly changing operating scenario. This scenario has basic infrastructures of accountability, law and opportunity under siege. Such a scenario measures recovery in years and not in months or cycles of elections.

The diverse and important functions played by donor foundations have been well documented. This documentation has a wide spectrum covering resilience, relief and recovery. We have many literature covering philanthropy and disaster providing how to guidance and instructions or who provided which funds for what. Analysis of this kind is published after years. Their findings are critical for insights into disaster funding organizations and their response regimens.

The experiences of calamity inflicted communities dramatically show what improved data infrastructure and a shared sense of urgency could accomplish. A donor organization that leverages its data effectively plays a significant role in placing valuable resources and bringing positive outcomes to an afflicted community. An example is the Foundation Maps, an online grant tool from The Foundation Center. It gives organizations which are not after profit and financiers a unique framework to map, define and share critical data in real time.

Whether it is bankrupt Detroit or an Ebola outbreak in Africa, cataclysm communities are society canaries in the coalmine. They reveal the underlying state of a society infrastructures and their impact on all people. When a calamity happens, we all see ourselves as people, we see our vulnerability and fragility. For an instant, we see us and not just them.

As the environment, scale and rate of recurrence of disasters rises, patronage must swing focus into awareness. It can commence doing this with a shared urgency sense while making a commitment to improve infrastructures of data. That way, first responders have a better opportunity to spring into action faster. It will enable them help communities in self organization long before the rest of the world can mobilize.




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